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TSA reports 3 guns stopped at Eastern Iowa Airport in 2024
The airport saw more guns reach the TSA checkpoint in 2022 and 2023
Jan. 16, 2025 4:24 pm
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CEDAR RAPIDS — Three firearms were stopped by the Transportation Security Administration at The Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids in 2024, according to data from the TSA.
That’s down from six guns that were stopped at the airport each year in 2023 and 2022.
“Bringing a firearm to the checkpoint is a careless, dangerous mistake that can be easily avoided,” Iowa TSA Federal Security Director John Bright said in a news release. “When individuals bring firearms to our checkpoints, they are introducing a risk to everyone in the area. These incidents also slow down the checkpoint screening process for other travelers because when a firearm is detected, all activity in that passenger screening lane comes to a complete halt until police arrive. Unloaded firearms can be packed with checked baggage and declared to the airline.”
The decrease in firearms comes despite a possible increase in passenger traffic during 2024. Official passenger data for 2024 hasn’t been finalized and released yet, but airport officials said in June that airport traffic was up by 10 percent year-to-date and they expected the growth to continue.
The Eastern Iowa Airport set a record for number of total passengers in 2023, with 1.4 million people traveling through it.
The Des Moines International Airport also saw an increase in passengers in 2024, with 4 percent more people being screened by the TSA than in 2023. The Des Moines airport also saw a jump in firearms stopped by the TSA, with 16 firearms in 2024, up from seven in 2023 and 15 in 2022, according to TSA data.
Passengers who attempt to go through the TSA checkpoint with a firearm may be arrested or cited and can face a civil penalty of up to $15,000. They also lose eligibility for TSA PreCheck for five years.
TSA officers do not confiscate guns, but they instead contact local law enforcement and remove both the passenger and the firearm from line, according to the TSA release.
Nationally, the TSA intercepted 6,678 firearms in 2024, about 94 percent of which were loaded. That number is down slightly from the record-breaking 6,737 firearms the TSA stopped in 2023, the release states.
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